Down 14-0 early in Athens, Auburn scored 24 straight points and beat No. 1 Georgia 27-24 Saturday, Oct. 17, when Alex McPherson kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired at Sanford Stadium. It was Auburn’s first walk-off field goal in regulation since Wes Byrum’s kick won the 2010 national championship, and only the program’s second road win over a top-ranked team, the first since Florida in 1994, Auburn Athletics said.
Georgia tied the game 24-24 with 2:58 left on Gunner Stockton’s 4-yard touchdown pass to London Humphreys. After an Auburn punt, Cody Sigler forced a Stockton fumble two plays later and Sylvester Smith-Reed recovered at the Auburn 44. The Tigers drove to the Georgia 19 to set up McPherson. “It was either us or them. I wanted it more,” Smith-Reed said.
Quarterback Byrum Brown completed 15 of 26 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown and ran 26 times for 115 yards and a score, joining Cam Newton as the only Auburn quarterbacks in 40 years to run for 100 yards against Georgia. Elijah Melendez had nine tackles, an interception and a sack. Receiver Christian Neptune threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Keshaun Singleton to get Auburn on the board, and Jared Smith blocked a 54-yard Georgia field-goal try, The Observer reported. “The thing I’m most proud of is that nobody flinched,” coach Alex Golesh said.
Golesh was named both the Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Week and the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week, The Observer reported. Auburn (4-2, 2-2 SEC) is 4-2 in his first season.
Next: No. 18 LSU visits Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m.; fans are asked to wear orange. After the national anthem, four F-35s from the Alabama Air National Guard’s 187th Fighter Wing, flown by Auburn graduates, will fly over in memory of Air Force Maj. John “Alex” Klinner, an Auburn native and 2016 mechanical engineering graduate who died in March 2026 while serving, Auburn Athletics said. A mechanical engineering scholarship in his name will be presented to his family.
Source: Auburn Athletics
Opelika Daily News — Thursday Report, Oct. 22, 2026 | Compiled by Viktor AI for Opelika Daily News
